What is your opinion on a light weight, easy to pull onto a lake in some deep snow, and roomy 1 man sled style shack. I am sick of dragging my big tub around during early ice, the 2-3 man is way to heavy to be dragging around this time of year and all the snow we just got makes it a lot worse .
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1 man shack
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December 13, 2010 at 11:18 pm #916930
Keep in mind I still need room for my gear and auger, Its time for another shack
December 13, 2010 at 11:24 pm #916931My fish trap pro works well for the listed conditions. Lightweight and easy to drag with all your gear. We hand dragged my Otter Lodge on Sat thru the blizzard and it was brutal! One guy pushing, one pullin….. Caught fish so it was worth it…
December 13, 2010 at 11:41 pm #916933Very good question Jesse
I have been draggin’ portables since the first Snow Boat came out. Not to date myself
There is one thing in your question though that just won’t happen, light weight and roomy.The easiest shack that I have ever pulled was the Trap Scout. Once flipped over the material is almost at the shoulders and only room for one hole. When set up the heater, LX-5 and one hole was all the room there was for operating on the ice in the front.
Saturday was my first experience with the one man Otter Ice Cottage. The first thing Mike and I noticed when unloading our sleds from the trucks, there was not a lot of difference between my Otter and Mike’s Clam Pro in weight.
My sled was loaded and I’m not going to tell you I ran across the snow but, it pulled better than expected And we are talking during the Blizzard. But yes, it did pull harder than the scout.
Once set up though, the little more effort it took to get it on fish was well worth it. 2 holes, 2 locators, heater on the ice along with a bucket plus, a catch Cover Rod Holder off the side of the tubing and there was still room to move around!
The pull off was a bit more of a struggle do to freezing water on the bottom of the sleds. I don’t think it matters what you are pulling when stuff freezes to the bottom, it ain’t going to be easy
With the amount of snow we have now, a bucket and auger is plenty
What ever it is you decide on, I wish you lots of fun and luck fishing out of it
December 13, 2010 at 11:49 pm #916935Another vote for the Otter Cottage from me
It is a lightweight roomy 1 man shack with plenty of room for gear in the sled
December 13, 2010 at 11:52 pm #916936Bret you have the Otter 1 man? I wonder how that is in comparison to the Team Wild 1 man? I am just getting too much of a beer gut to be dragging the big shack thru snow like this……..2 or 3 years ago maybe, but not this year
December 14, 2010 at 12:09 am #916940Yep, I have the one man.
Some one else will have to chime in on the Wild. I have not seen one in person.2-3 years changes a lot of things
December 14, 2010 at 12:24 am #916946I found the difference it is: 4lbs, a few inches here and there and $$$
December 14, 2010 at 1:08 am #916960I like the fish trap but the otter is also a very solid 1 man shack.
December 14, 2010 at 2:31 am #916998Jesse,
I have the Fish Trap Pro and built some snow runners for it this fall-see pic. The addition of the hydrafax runners didn’t help much; neither did spraying the bottom with silicone. The new runners will be an improvement but we’ll have to see how the aluminum conduit holds up. The runners were a gift and were designed for the Hammerhead sleds.
A tub is a tub and they just resist deep snow.. There may not be as much gain as you hope for though there will surely be some in going smaller.
There are a fair number of mod.s out there that you can google to get your shelter up off the snow. That’s where I found the ideas for mine.
Good luck,
John
December 14, 2010 at 2:44 am #917005I like my fish trap scout. I have the runner kit on it. I can fit all my gear, its a good shack for me. I will say I carry around 2 rod bags and a heater. I also have room for a bucket if needed.
December 14, 2010 at 2:46 am #917006Quote:
Jesse,
I have the Fish Trap Pro and built some snow runners for it this fall-see pic. The addition of the hydrafax runners didn’t help much; neither did spraying the bottom with silicone. The new runners will be an improvement but we’ll have to see how the aluminum conduit holds up. The runners were a gift and were designed for the Hammerhead sleds.
A tub is a tub and they just resist deep snow.. There may not be as much gain as you hope for though there will surely be some in going smaller.
There are a fair number of mod.s out there that you can google to get your shelter up off the snow. That’s where I found the ideas for mine.
Good luck,
John
I like the conduit idea but I think it would work even better if the conduit was just the legs and use old skis for the runners. Make the legs long enough so the sled is off the snow at least 4″ to 6″. With the skis waxed up good they will pull with ease. Here is a link with pics, I think I would use 3 pieces of conduit on each ski for added strength.
http://www.lake-link.com/boards/forums/viewposts.cfm?Thread_ID=44931
December 14, 2010 at 2:56 am #917017you need to gear down a bit and get all your gear and shack on your back! its the way to go! get a light one man put some back pack straps on her get your flasher 2 poles small radio bait all in one pail! take a good sharp spud! no need for a auger until you have more than 6 inches! unless you plan on drilling a pile of holes! but then you still have one pail one auger and the shack on you back!
mduffy1969Posts: 49December 14, 2010 at 4:42 am #917040I just make my 15 year old son carry all the heavy stuff. He can carry the Quickfish on his back, pull the sled full of gear with his left hand and carry the auger in his right…. I usually carry a diet coke in my right hand and some chips or something in my left. If you don’t have a fifteen year old son, check in with me on one of those days when I would be willing to sell mine! Just kidding of course… I’d never sell…….might lease though!
December 14, 2010 at 1:22 pm #917079There are times here on the Madison chain were we hand pull sleds for a mile or more and I’d not trade anything for my scout. I’d love to have a wheeler but I don’t have anywhere to store it or money to buy one. I fish 2 holes in my scout all the time. I drill three holes (one for my ducer, one dead stick, and a jigging hole). You do get a tangle once in a while but not more often than not. I use a tiny little coleman black cat heater and I put it in the sled. The best thing I’ve done in years was to go to an electric drill and a 6 inch laser. That took a lot of weight out of my sled. Several of us have this same one and we can cover ground. Cell phones are a great thing.
wilson1984Posts: 302December 14, 2010 at 3:00 pm #917112Quote:
you need to gear down a bit and get all your gear and shack on your back! its the way to go! get a light one man put some back pack straps on her get your flasher 2 poles small radio bait all in one pail! take a good sharp spud! no need for a auger until you have more than 6 inches! unless you plan on drilling a pile of holes! but then you still have one pail one auger and the shack on you back!
I used to fish a river spot that all I carried was a back pack with rods and tackle in it, flasher and a hand auger. It was like climbing a mountain. Probably wont be doing that anymore, the reason I like the sled is I can fit all my stuff and it has a built in chair
December 14, 2010 at 5:47 pm #917169I have the Clam Kenai, picked it up last year for $190. I like it alot, plenty of room, comes with a seat, and seems extremely durable. It pulls great on the way out, but like Brett said, when you get some frozen crap on it it is a bear. Saturday was a nightmare heading back to the truck
December 14, 2010 at 11:09 pm #917252i am also in the market for a 1 man flip over. i wanted the otter cottage but it seems its going to be very hard to find where im located so i am leaning toward the frabill commando or wild 1 man. anybody have and info on the frabill or wild 1 man?
December 16, 2010 at 1:23 am #917569Jesse, I have the Wild one man and there is a lot of room. The bench seat is almost large enough for two people. It does weigh about 72 lbs or so but it pulls pretty good. I would recommend this shack if you want room and the weight is reasonable to handle.
December 16, 2010 at 2:28 am #917597Quote:
The pull off was a bit more of a struggle do to freezing water on the bottom of the sleds. I don’t think it matters what you are pulling when stuff freezes to the bottom, it ain’t going to be easy
I would not hesitate kicking the bottom of my Otter to get frozen ice/slush off of it.
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